1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a charging system, a charging method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a method has been discussed which estimates the consumed amount of toner from image data subjected to rendering process and output (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-282947, for example). Another method has been discussed which calculates the number of pixels from device-independent image data to estimate the number of device-dependent pixels (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-89486, for example). Yet another method has been known in which a system manger performs setting so that additional contents such as a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern and a two-dimensional bar code for tracking are combined with contents designated by a user and output to ensure security.
In conventional methods, however, the consumed amount of toner is estimated from a final output image, so that, even if the user outputs the same document and if the output destinations use different models, it may cause an issue that a different amount is charged according to the model. Another issue is caused that an image portion designated by the user (such as contents created by the user) and an image portion designated by the system manger (such as the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern) cannot be appropriately charged.